Wildcards also named for Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo and Il Lombardia

Passing over the candidature of some highly-tipped teams such as MTN Qhubeka, Giro d’Italia organisers RCS Sport have gone for teams with a strong Italian slant in choosing three wildcard places for the race.

The company has selected the Italian Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox squad plus Team Colombia, a team registered in and featuring riders from that South American country, but with an Italian management and base.

Both had been tipped as strong contenders and competed in the race in 2013.

The third choice is also an Italian squad, and will be a controversial one for many; Yellow Fluo has evolved out of the Vini Fantini Selle Italia team, which had two high profile doping cases around the time of the Giro last year.

In September the Italian media reported that Santambrogio’s B sample had tested negative, meaning that the rider might go unsanctioned.

However in terms of negative publicity, damage was undoubtedly done to the Giro. Despite that – and despite the absence of big names on the team - RCS Sport has opted for that squad rather than choosing one of the foreign outfits pushing for inclusion.

The teams which have lost out include MTN Qhubeka, UnitedHealthcare, Caja Rural, IAM Cycling and Wanty.

They are from South Africa, the United States, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium, respectively.

Commenting in brief on the decision, the Giro organiser has said that it favoured teams connected to Italy.

“As in past years RCS Sport wanted to give such notice, in the month of January, in order to allow all teams to better organize their season,” it stated. “The choices made, especially for the wild cards of the Giro d'Italia, were dictated by the opportunity - at this moment in history - to support the Italian cycling movement, without ever losing sight of the goal of international development.”

In addition to the three wildcards, the Italian-registered Androni Giocattoli Venezuela squad gains automatic access as it won the Italian Cup series last year.

RCS Sport has also allocated wildcards for some of its other events. Bardiani CSF, MTN Qhubeka, IAM Cycling and NetApp Endura will join the WorldTour squads in Tirreno-Adriatico, running between March 12th to 18th, while Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani CSF, IAM Cycling, MTN – Qhubeka, Team Net App – Endura, UnitedHealthcare and Yellow Fluo gain access to Milan-Sanremo.